28 March, 2024

When God Prompts

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by | 4 April, 2010 | 0 comments

By George Ross

As I write this, the television news is saturated with graphic updates of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. It is mid-January, and first reports estimate about 200,000 people will die as a result of the disaster. The surrounding world looks on and aches with and for those Haitian families who lost loved ones.

I know the church will come through and help bring assistance to one of the poorest countries on earth. We, as God”s people, have proven again and again we can step up in tragedies like this and Hurricane Katrina.

My focus in this article isn”t on the church”s response, but rather on God”s ability to prompt us to take action. In the case of my church, there was prompting ahead of schedule that made us aware of the work God would have us do.

A Christmastime Project

Last summer, the church”s mission staff came to our leadership team and asked that we consider a Christmastime program called The Advent Conspiracy. The team suggested a project to raise money to help provide clean water supply for foreign countries wherever we might choose.

For years, the church has sponsored “compassionate giving opportunities” at Christmas for projects like Angel Tree and Samaritan”s Purse to help less fortunate kids and families. With the sputtering economy, we weren”t sure if we really needed to add another giving opportunity, since this might dilute the overall response. I believe the church can sometimes provide too many choices for people to give to!

But we adopted this plan and called it One Less Gift, suggesting that this Christmas every family in the church consider giving one less gift to each other in order that we could give the gift of clean water to a foreign country.

The goal of our giving, $40,000, would purchase a drill, a “gift that keeps on giving all year long.” We decided it was important to do this, even in the midst of challenging times. We chose a mission our church already supported, one our high school ministry had invested in through multiple trips. There”s nothing like a good, already established partnership!

One Less Gift kicked off our Christmas series the weekend after Thanksgiving. The message seemed to lend itself to a focus on the attitude of the wise men; it seemed God was directing the whole thing. Little did we know how specifically he was directing our plans, vision, and steps!

Our church family responded passionately, with the high school ministry leading the way. Every age group got on board. A second-grade student even asked his schoolteacher if he could sell hot chocolate in the hallway between classes to help “those poor people who need a clean drink of water.” He raised more than $200 and dumped the whole amount in the water-purifying container we had in the church lobby.

All totaled, we raised more than $62,000. It felt good to be able to help folks with something as practical and necessary as a clean water supply.

A New Year Disaster

What I haven”t told you””but maybe you”ve already guessed””is the mission we chose to support was in Haiti. We”ve helped this mission in northwestern Haiti for years. It”s in the hilly country where it”s very difficult to haul water because the roads are terrible. The thought of a drill to help the people meet their water needs seemed very practical. But we had no idea that January”s disaster would create a need we could help with immediately. As I write this, the drill is already being used in Port-au-Prince, although eventually it will be moved.

I know many others have made more sacrificial responses to this tragedy. But the amazing thing to us is God prompted us to help long before the earthquake hit.

In Matthew 6, Jesus taught us about prayer and how the Father has great awareness of all our needs. When we mention them to God in prayer, it isn”t news to him; he knows about them prior to our asking. This was driven home to us. It is true for an individual, family, and even a desperate country. And God, in his wisdom, called us to be an answer to prayers of Haitians suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake long before the quake had happened and they worded those prayers.

Like most other congregations, we responded benevolently upon hearing of Haiti”s tragedy. But the greatest memory will always be that God”s Spirit graciously moved in us before the disaster.

How God Works

Throughout the Bible we see God working this way. In Acts 10, God brought together Cornelius and Peter and opened the kingdom to Gentiles. In Genesis 37, God sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of the rest of his family to make preparations for surviving a future famine. In Luke 1, we read that Elizabeth became pregnant six months ahead of Mary, allowing her to be a great maternal mentor. God”s timing is perfect.

To summarize: The price of a drill for clean water in Haiti . . . $40,000.

But the prompting of God”s Spirit in our lives . . . priceless!

Paul wrote, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). I want to keep in step. I don”t want to be accused of always looking for a dramatic prompting from Heaven. But I sure want to be sensitive to his gentle nudge.

Even if it comes from another staff member and the idea isn”t original with me!



George Ross serves as senior pastor with Northside Christian Church in New Albany, Indiana.

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